News reports of persons being seriously injured by shrapnel from an exploding baseball bat are becoming all too common. It is a primary object of the present invention to provide bats in which handles resist becoming disassociated with major portions of the barrel of a bat and thereby reduce the risk to both players and fans who have the singular misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A number of efforts have been made to address this problem. In fact, the Truesdell patent U.S. Pat. No. 780,244 issued Jan. 17, 1905 indicates the problem has been known for over a century. Most, if not all of these proposed “solutions” involve removal of material from either the interior or exterior of the bat's surface, perforce weakening the bat structure. Removing wood from the bat virtually ensures that it will fail; hence, these proposed solutions amplify, while attempting to control, the problem of bats shattering into multiple pieces. Any attempt to fix this problem at the Major League Baseball (MLB) level must past muster with the MLB rules and regulations. Rule 1.10 specifies “(c) The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from its end, may be covered or treated with any material or substance to improve the grip.” The problem has been “remedied” at the little league level by converting to aluminum bats. However, metal bats are, in themselves, a dangerous weapon and there is a movement afoot to revert to wooden bats; solving the bat shattering problem will make this restoration of wooden bats at the little league level even more attractive.
The bat of the present invention wraps the 18″ handle portion with a nylon cord (i.e., fishing line) in a spiral configuration. The cord is preferably adhered into a groove, which is preferably formed by compressing the wood, rather than removing material, thereby strengthening the wood rather than weakening it. The respective revolutions of the spiral are spaced by a distance falling in the range between ¼″ and ½″. The reinforced bat handle is then dipped in a viscous, non-dripping epoxy and coated with recycled rubber chips. It is preferred that the rubber chips be formed from recycled, discarded auto and truck tires. Finally, the handle is sanded to form a smooth grippable surface which is contiguous with the barrel of the bat.
Various other features, advantages, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description.